1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns an instrument useable by a dental patient to correct troublesome surfaces of his or her denture, partial denture or other oral appliance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the field of restorative dentistry, it is often necessary to find the xe2x80x9chigh spotsxe2x80x9d or premature contact sites between upper and lower teeth because said high spots interfere with the proper meshing or xe2x80x9cocclusionxe2x80x9d of upper and lower teeth. To find the high spots, the dentist usually applies a thin tape which leaves a mark on the high spot when the patient bites down. The high spot is then reduced by the usual dental abrasive tools acting upon the offending natural or artificial teeth, crowns or fillings.
Removable dental appliances such as a multi-tooth partial bridge or full denture have a trough-like gripping surface configured to rest against the patient""s gums, palate or other portions of the oral cavity. In the case of newly made or newly re-lined removable appliances, it often happens that sore spots will develop where the gripping surface is too high. To remediate this problem, a dentist may have to spend considerable time in repeated patient visits to locate the site of the appliance which causes the sore spot, and abrading it to a lower profile. In such situation, the aforesaid techniques for remediating occlusional problems cannot be applied. It is further to be noted that sore spots may occur when it is inconvenient to see a dentist, such as at night or on weekends, holidays or when away on vacation.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide an instrument which can be employed by a dental patient to locate and remediate sites of a dental appliance that cause sore spots.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an instrument as in the foregoing object which can be easily and safely utilized by the dental patient.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an instrument of the aforesaid nature of simple, durable construction amenable to low cost manufacture.
These objects and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description.
The above and other beneficial objects and advantages are accomplished in accordance with the present invention by an instrument for locating and remediating sites of a removable dental appliance which cause sore spots, said instrument comprising:
a) a rigid shaft handle elongated between first and second extremities,
b) marking means associated with said first extremity, and
c) abrading means associated with said second extremity.